Covenantal Nomism Essay

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The author of this report has been charged with exploring the topic of what is known as covenantal nomism. To be a little more specific, the thesis offered and argued by J.D.G. Dunn is that the book of Galatians is Paul's first "sustained attempt" to address the subject of nomism as mentioned above. Essentially, the idea of nomism is that one has to be born into grace and into God's people. It is the opposite of legalism, which is the idea that one can choose to obey God's commandments and join others in being among other people that are likewise choosing to be among the throng. While it is perhaps a bit controversial to discuss and think about the subject, the idea of who can be among God's people and how it can be gained or lost is a real question.

Analysis



The general subject under review in this report is specific to Judaism circa the first century. It basically holds that the Jews of that day were the chosen people. However, protestants and others over the years have asserted that is specious, or at least unproven one way or the other. Even with that all being the case, the emergence of Jesus as the Son of God on Earth created a bit of a challenge in some ways. After all, the time of Jesus was chronologically after the Torah. In looking at Dunn's treatise on this general subject, it is noteworthy to point out that Paul, formerly Saul, was himself a persecutor of men before his reform. Even with that, Dunn points out that Paul made it a point and a priority to make righteousness a "prerogative" of Israel and Israel alone.

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Further, Dunn asserts that Paul was clearly trying to have a clear demarcation between the Jews and the Gentiles, with the latter being of the "sinner" variety. When it comes to Paul's ostensibly segue from being a horrible man to an apostle, he refers to it as a "commissioning" rather than a conversion. Obviously, Protestants look at all of this a little differently in that Paul was clearly among the sort of man that would lose his righteousness even if it could or should be presumed that he was among the chosen people of God. Dunn also makes a lot of the topics of food laws and circumcision. Dunn's ultimate review of Paul involves a drawing of parallels between what Jesus and Paul said on the subject. Jesus, of course, was quick to say that the Pharisaic way of labeling non-sectarians as being sinners was similar to Paul objecting to the Jewish ideal that Gentiles were the same sort of sinners by definition. In doing so, Paul seems to have undermined the Third Pillar of Judaism. He did so by saying that the laws surrounding Judaism at the time (e.g. those about circumcision, food, etc.) were not relevant in determining who received treatment as God's people and who did not. This represented a clear break in beliefs and patterns between Judaism and Christianity [footnoteRef:1]. [1: Dunn, James D. G. The Partings Of The Ways. London: SCM, 2006.]

Hagner speaks about much the same topic but takes his own approach. He echoes the general idea of….....

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Bibliography


Dunn, James D. G. The Partings Of The Ways. London: SCM, 2006.

Stuhlmacher, Peter. Revisiting Paul's Doctrine Of Justification. Downers Grove, Ill.: Intervarsity Press, 2001.

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